Research

Researching your project:

This is the hardest part. Good research starts with a good thesis. A good thesis starts with good research. Circular reasoning, but true.

Start with your topic. Narrow your topic down to a thesis. Then the thesis will guide the rest of your research.



Here are some research sites to help you:

Primary Sources:

National Archives
http://www.archives.gov/

Smithsonian Institution
http://www.si.edu/Researchers

National Security Archive
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

Yale University Law-Avalon Project (Diplomatic and Legal Documents)
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp

National Museum of American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/about.cfm

Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Library of Congress-American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

White House Proclamations
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/proclamations/

Letters From Americas Wars
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/battlelines/index_good.html

New York Public Library
http://www.nypl.org/collections/nypl-collections/archival-materials

John Adams Library
http://www.johnadamslibrary.org/

Bancroft Library
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/

British Library
http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/index.html

LBJ Library
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/dictabelt.hom/highlights/Highlightpage.asp

York University
http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/Home/ResearchAndInstruction/primary-sources-audio-and-visual-materials.en

Denver Public Library
http://digital.denverlibrary.org/

Colonial Williamsburg
http://www.history.org/history/museums/online_exhibits.cfm

DocSouth: UNC LIbrary
http://docsouth.unc.edu/browse/collections.html

Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Data Base
http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces

FBI Freedom of Information Act
http://www.fbi.gov/foia/

Presidents of the United States
http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/

EuroDocs BYU
http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page

Making of America
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moagrp/